In a small village in the north of Portugal, there’s a century old tradition on the Christian celebration of Epiphany that’s been getting a lot of attention. There are always festivities around the globe to mark the occasion, which usually consist of activities such as church services, singing and dancing.
For the residents of Vale de Salgueiro however, the tradition has always been to provide children with cigarettes to smoke during the religious festival. No one is quite sure why or how the tradition started, but they do know it has been around for hundreds of years and is celebrated only by those in the small village.
Guilhermina Mateus, a parent of one of the girls who live in the village stated that, “I don’t see any harm in that because they don’t really smoke, they inhale and immediately exhale.”
The village parish president Carlos Cadavez went on to say, “Only those who live and are raised here can truly understand the meaning of this tradition.” Carlos stated that his 10 year old daughter would smoke two to three packets of cigarettes during the celebrations, adding, “I don’t ask for people to understand, it is not easy to do so, anyone might think we are not good.”
Despite criticism, it doesn’t look like the residents of Vale de Salgueiro will be changing the ways any time soon. Check back for the maddest stories from around the world, always on GRM Daily.